The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically to mechanisms for determining relevant feedback based on an alignment of feedback with performance objectives.
Currently, audience feedback metering is often used for evaluating speeches, seminar presentations or contestants' performances in song, dance and sports competitions. In these situations, the goal is to evaluate the presenter for their presentation, speech, singing/dancing or some other ability. Another popular example is political debates where such audience feedback metering used to measure an audience's live reaction to a candidate's speech. These solutions normally require extensive set up that may include creating a live web-based polling system or a telephone line bank for telephone-based polling or using individual hardware devices that are provided to a panel of people who can enter their feedback into the devices for subsequent measurement. Because of effort involved, these solutions are used during specific events for which they are specifically designed a priori. Moreover, they require a separate feedback metering mechanism with which the audience members must interact in order to specifically provide feedback.
There also exist webcast or web-seminar software systems that utilize instant polling mechanisms to gauge audience feedback. These solutions require the webcast or web-seminar moderator to take specific actions to set up the questions of the poll and to actively solicit feedback. Moreover, these again require that the audience member specifically interact with the polling mechanism to provide feedback and thus, rely on the audience member's willingness and desire to provide such feedback. These kinds of feedback systems enable a moderator to get feedback at specific times in a survey format but do not provide real-time live reaction measurement capability.
Further, many businesses are adopting telecommuting in the workplace. With an increase in telecommuting, traditional meetings that took place in a conference room are being replaced by telephone conferences. In telephone conferences, participants located at various locations dial into a “conference call.” Using a telephone as a communications medium restricts information transfer to only verbal communication. Sometimes the telephone conferences are supplemented by instant message conferences or web conferences so that the participants can share presentations or exchange text messages with each other. One of the drawbacks of teleconferences is the attenuation of immediate feedback from participants. It is difficult for a meeting moderator to determine if participants are reacting favorably to the current topic of discussion. In the absence of visual cues such as body language and facial expressions, the meeting moderator is also unable to determine the interest level of the participants. In many cases, the meeting moderator has to specifically solicit participants for feedback such as asking questions to gauge if the participants agree with the current direction the meeting is headed. In other cases, the moderators have to use their own judgment to direct the meeting which may add the risk of alienating participants.
Commonly assigned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0052645, entitled “Teleconference System with Participant Feedback,” filed Feb. 26, 2009 teaches a mechanism for obtaining live feedback from an audience of a teleconference with instant messaging so as to let the moderator know their valuation of the current discussion. Based on the feedback, the moderator can take appropriate action, such as steer the conversation into areas that will be received favorably by the meeting participants.